Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Buys 38,500 Shares of Advance Auto Parts, Inc. $AAP

Key Points

• Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its position in Advance Auto Parts by 9.3%, now owning approximately 0.76% of the company valued at $17.72 million.
• Advance Auto Parts announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, with a yield of 1.7%, set to be paid on October 24.
• In its latest earnings report, Advance Auto Parts surpassed expectations with $0.69 earnings per share, while also forecasting a range of 1.200-2.20 EPS for FY 2025.

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its position in Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP - Free Report) by 9.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 451,925 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 38,500 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL owned about 0.76% of Advance Auto Parts worth $17,720,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AAP. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 189.0% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 711 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new position in Advance Auto Parts in the first quarter valued at about $49,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in Advance Auto Parts by 1,258.8% in the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,310 shares of the company's stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 2,140 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Advance Auto Parts by 69.8% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,842 shares of the company's stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 1,168 shares during the period. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division raised its position in Advance Auto Parts by 10.0% in the first quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 3,300 shares of the company's stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. 88.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on AAP. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Advance Auto Parts from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (up from $40.00) on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. DA Davidson set a $65.00 target price on Advance Auto Parts in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Citigroup set a $60.00 target price on Advance Auto Parts in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $50.00 target price on Advance Auto Parts and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Advance Auto Parts has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $51.78.

Advance Auto Parts Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AAP traded up $0.22 during trading on Friday, hitting $60.74. The company had a trading volume of 1,094,966 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,061,991. The company has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.53 and a beta of 1.05. Advance Auto Parts, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.89 and a 52 week high of $70.00. The business's 50-day moving average is $56.86 and its 200 day moving average is $45.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.10. Advance Auto Parts had a negative net margin of 4.37% and a negative return on equity of 1.97%. The company had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. The company's revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Advance Auto Parts has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.200-2.20 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Advance Auto Parts, Inc. will post -0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Advance Auto Parts Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Advance Auto Parts's payout ratio is currently -15.70%.

Insider Activity at Advance Auto Parts

In other news, SVP Jason Hand sold 948 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.52, for a total transaction of $45,996.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 9,876 shares in the company, valued at $479,183.52. The trade was a 8.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Advance Auto Parts

Advance Auto Parts, Inc provides automotive replacement parts, accessories, batteries, and maintenance items for domestic and imported cars, vans, sport utility vehicles, and light and heavy duty trucks. The company offers battery accessories; belts and hoses; brakes and brake pads; chassis and climate control parts; clutches and drive shafts; engines and engine parts; exhaust systems and parts; hub assemblies; ignition components and wires; radiators and cooling parts; starters and alternators; and steering and alignment parts.